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JANUARY 27, 1921
A COMPARISON OF THE COST OF TRANSPORT AND
TON-MiLES BY LAND, SEA AND AIR*
BY LORD MONTAGU OF BEAULIEU
IN his introduction Lord Montagu pointed out that for
comparative purposes the cost of ton-miles for various
methods of transport formed a useful, although not the
only, basis. The factor of speed must also be taken into
account. He pointed out that air transport, like other
means of transport, cannot survive eventually unless it earns
sufficient revenue to pay for the cost of operation plus a
reasonable interest on the capital involved. Speed, the
lecturer pointed out, is a comparative and not an exact
term. The route from England to India direct by airship
is about 3,600 miles, and at an average speed of 50 m.p.h.
this journey would take about seventy-two hours, or three
days, while the fastest journey by train and ship takes
fifteen to sixteen days. Thus about twelve days could be
saved on this journey, and this saving in time would be of
great value to certain passengers. The firm which provides
fast aerial transport is not only selling the right of the indi-
vidual to be transported from A to B, but is also selling a
certain saving of time in comparison with the next most
rapid means of conveyance. This is the real reason why
high speed is commercially valuable.
Having indicated the importance of the factor of speed,
Lord Montagu turned his attention to the cost of ton-miles
by land transport. He pointed out that in nearly all forms
of land transport the cost of labour is now such a large propor-
tion of the total cost of operation that those methods of
transport which employ the least labour are those which
now and in the future are likely to be the most popular and
the cheapest. As regards road transport the cost of labour
per ton-mile is high. In the case of air transport there is
no permanent way to keep in order. For a 3 to 3^-ton lorry
Lord Montagu arrives at a figure of 8d. per ton-mile, and for
a smaller van of about 30 cwt. at a cost of about is. per ton-
mile. The electric 3-ton lorry works out at about qd. per
ton-mile. For motor-'bus and char-a-banc the cost works
out at about \\d. per passenger mile. In the case of railways
a cost of i.6d. was a fair average until about a year ago.
This figure does not include recent rises in costs or labour,
nor the cost of collection and delivery. Probably a fair
figure for present conditions, and taking into consideration
everything, the cost from station to station would be about
2$d. per ton-mile.
Transport by sea is naturally the cheapest of all forms.
As in the case of air transport, there is no permanent way
to keep up. " I have," Lord Montagu said, " obtained a
few typical figures of voyages from London to the East,
returning to London. But as the cost per ton-mile by sea
is such a small fraction of a penny, the following costs are
shown per 100 ton-miles, calculated on the gross weight of
the steamer and its contents " :—
Cost per 100 ton-miles.
Route. . . Fuel. Otheritems. Total.
" • • d. d. d.
London-Australia (via Canal)—
16-knot mail steamers .. 3.3 3.3 6.6
14-knot intermediates .. 2.4 2.7 5.1
London-Australia (via Cape)—
Cargo liners .. 1.6 2.2 3.8
_ London-Bombay (via Canal)—
16-knot mail steamers .. 3.8 3.4 7.2
London-Calcutta (via Canal)—
14-knot intermediates .. 1.4 3.6 5.0
London-Japan (via Canal)—
12-to 14-knot intermediates 2.9 2.9 5.8
The estimated cost, on the other hand, of conveying saloon
passengers per ship mile, exclusive of food, but assuming
that the whole accommodation for passengers is occupied
through the entire journey, is given below :—
Routes (via Canal)— 7 •'-~- ' ':; /j"\ • ' &•
London-Australia, mail steamers .. ""-•,.: 1.44
intermediate type .. 1.11
London-Bombay, mail steamers .. ».' 1.80
London-Calcutta, intermediate type -.» . 1.20
London-Japan, intermediate type .. .. 1.42
At i\d. average per passenger per mile and allowing fifteen
passengers to the ton, then the cost of ton passenger miles
is about zz\d. a mile, about the same figure as a motor-'bus
or char-a-banc. • J -
* Extracts from Paper read before tbe Royal Aeronautical Society onJanuary 30, 1931.
Rough Estimated Cost of Carrying Cargo per 100 Jon-Miles
Exclusive of Loading and Discharging Expenses
d.
London-Australia, mail steamers .. .. 10.1
,, intermediate type .. 8.2
,, cargo liner (via Cape) .. 6.7
London-Bombay, mail steamers type .. 12.0
London-Calcutta, intermediate type .. 9.7
London-Japan, intermediate type .. .. 9 •8
" It should be noticed that in these statistics no allowance
has been made for interest on capital. Also that a port,
like a railway-station, is seldom more than a point of distri-
bution and collection, and that ' origin to destination ' should
be the ultimate aim and motto of all transport."
As regards the cost of conveyance by aircraft, Lord Montagu
referred to the figure of 2&d. per "aeroplane mile given by
Mr. White-Smith at the Air Conference. This figure was now
thought to be too low, and he personally thought that about
44<2. per ion-mile would be a fair figure if a reasonable profit
was to be included. " At this figure the aeroplane can only
compete successfully with existing transport because of its
speed." With regard to airships Lord Montagu gave the
following figures for the concrete case of a flight from England
to Cairo and India, allowing fifty hours for the journey to
Cairo and fifty hours on—
s. d.
Interest on capital expenditure .. 7 oi mile over
Cost of operating the airships .. 23 S ^d
Cost of running the bases .. 11 o J or sea.
- - 41 5
Or an " all-in " cost of 497c?. per mile made good over the
ground. If the airship could carry, as a conservative figure,
15 tons of commercial load for a journey occupying 50 hours,
this would make the "all-in" cost per ton-mile 35$d. for
such a journey. Not a formidable figure in comparison with
other methods of fast transport.
Allowing seven passengers to the ton, which for practical
purposes amounts to each passenger being allowed I cwt.
of luggage free, and 1 ton of mails at 6d. per oz. for each
stage of fifty hours, the following table is of interest:—
Airship. Steamer.
Approximate Mails Approximate
England to Time (1 ton) Passen- 1st Class
of Transit carried). gers. Steamer Pas-
senger Fare.f
days. oz. £ £
Egypt .. .. 2J 6d. 50 45 to 50
India . . .. 5 is. 100 65 to 70
South Africa .. 6J is. 3d. 120 70
Australia .. 10J 2s. 190 115 to 128
The above figures are based on airships actually under
construction (" R. 38 " class), showing a profit of 15 per
cent., and are based on the carriage of 75 per cent, of the
possible passengers.
The passenger ton-mileage in this case would work out at
about 34<2., but no doubt these costs will be reduced later
on. And while the cost is in this case moderate, there would
be a great saving in time on a non-stop run for at least 2,500
miles—say London to Egypt, or 3,800 miles London to India.
TABLE I.—Comparative Average Speeds by Land, Sea and Air.
Miles per hour.
Land. Average speed.
Express and fast trains .. .. 40
Ordinary passenger train .. ..25
Ordinary goods train .. .'. .'. - 14",
Motor-car or cycle .. .. .'. 20
Motor-'bus or char-a-banc .. .. 15 _
Motor-lorry .. .. .. .. 13.
Sea.
Mail ship. . .. .. .. ... i6 ~
Ordinary passenger ship ... .. «
Ordinary cargo ship .. .•.•"•• .-> - 10AirS
Aeroplanes for mails and passengers .. 100 ....
Aeroplanes for goods .. .. .. 80 :
Airship for mails and passengers .. 60 '.-.'."
:-. Airship for goods .. .. .. 50
- "•'• f Now Increased about 20 per cent, beyond these figures.
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